Archive for October, 2012

Oct

In My Corner

Posted by: Michell in About Writing

I talk a lot about trying to find time/make time to write. I don’t talk enough about what enables me to actually sit down and do my writing.

That would be my family (and to a lesser, but equally important extent, my friends).

When I have writing that needs to be done, my spouse and children have always allowed me to do what was necessary. Even those times when they had activities going on that required my attention, they put them on hold for my writing. Without that support, I could never have done what I’ve done so far and will do in the future.

So why am I talking about it now?

Well, today I fly to Toronto to attend the World Fantasy Convention. This will be my third one, but my first as a Pro. It represents a lot of hard work, sacrifice and time invested. It is also a big expense.

My wife didn’t even blink when I talked about going a year ago (right after I returned from WFC in San Diego, in fact). She had already heard the strides I had taken at my second one. The contacts made and the interest shown in my work. She knew why it was important that I go.

So today, I am taking another step in my journey as a writer. I am going to my first WFC as a professional. There was a time when that seemed like a fairy tale. Now it is reality.

And only because of my family and friends supporting my dream and continuing to support it. I couldn’t have done it without them and you.

Tags: children, friends, irreverent muse toronto, Michell Plested, mike plested, professional, spouse, support, wfc, world fantasy convention, writing

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Oct

Get Published Episode 95 – A Method to the Madness: Anthology Update

Posted by: Michell in Get Published (Podcast)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

I’ve been on the road a fair amount the past few weeks and I have learned that the tools you use are critical to your creative success. There are plenty of applications that will allow you to stay in touch with home and keep your writing and podcasting moving forward. Things like Dropbox, Google docs, Skype and Logmein can really help.

In today’s episode, Jeffrey Hite and I talk about the progress of our anthology, A Method to the Madness: A Guide to the Super Evil. We talk about the challenges, what has worked and what we have accomplished.

JR Murdock also has another Unorthodox Writing Tips in the Tips and Typos. He discusses some tricks you can use to give more depth to your characters.

That’s today’s episode. I hope you enjoy it.

Show Notes

00:00 — Opening – Get Published Episode 95 – A Method to the Madness: Anthology Update

Everything has to start somewhere and this is the start of “Get Published”

00:14 — Introduction – Get Published Episode 95 – A Method to the Madness: Anthology Update

Welcome to the show.

01:08 Promo: BabylonPodcast

02:11 -Tips and Typos

JR Murdock talks about adding depth to characters.

06:21 - Promo – Nutty Bites

06:51 — Get Published Episode 95 – A Method to the Madness: Anthology Update (continued)

Jeffrey Hite and Mike talk about their continuing journey to create the anthology, “A Method to the Madness: A Guide to the Super Evil”

57:42 - Promo - Flying Island Press

58:27 — Closing

Thank you for listening.

Websites mentioned in this episode:

Michell Plested - http://www.michellplested.com/

Jeffrey Hite – http://jeffhite.com

JR Murdock - http://jrmurdock.com/

Babylon Podcast - http://www.babylonpodcast.com/

NIMLAS Studios/Nutty Bites - http://nimlas.org/blog/

Flying Island Press - http://flyingislandpress.com/

Tags: 5 rivers publishing, a method to the madness: a guide to the super evil, anthology, babylon podcast, five rivers publishing, flying island press, Get Published, jeffrey hite, jr murdock, lorina stephens, Michell Plested, nimlas, nutty bites

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Oct

A Wrench in the Works

Posted by: Michell in About Writing, Irreverent Muse

This week I have the pleasure of traveling for work. Now, don’t get me wrong, I enjoy traveling on occasion. However, this was somewhat last minute and I came without most of my normal paraphanalia. No personal laptop is probably the biggest missing piece. Instead, I decided to try using Logmein on my iPad to keep in contact with my home email and other bits and pieces.

Let me begin by saying, the application is pretty decent. It allows me to virtually connect to my home system and interact with it. The smaller screen (of the iPad) hasn’t proven to be too much of an issue as I can expand on a piece of screen as necessary. Clicking, selecting, cut & paste are all interesting (see painful) but possible. The bluetooth keyboard I have with me has been a godsend.

Unfortunately, it has made some of my editing projects difficult to impossible. Add that difficulty to being out of my own timezone by 2 hours, not the same applications on my iPad and the various dinner meetings and other activities and I find that I have done absolutely nothing on my editing, writing or other projects. It also means I’ve been very hit and miss on my Tweets and Facebook postings.

Good thing I have next week to catch up…wait, nope, that won’t work either. World Fantasy Convention is my destination next Wednesday. I guess that means I have to be VERY productive this weekend.

It has been good though, being on the road. I have seen things I haven’t seen before, had some new experiences and learned some of the limitations to my on-the-road tech plan. Hoping (praying?) that Scrivener for iPad is released soon so that capability is added to my arsenal.

Tags: facebook, ipad, irreverent muse, Michell Plested, productivity, scrivener, travel, tweet, twitter, world fantasy convention

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